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In this part of the askST education series, Senior Education Correspondent Sandra Davie responds to two questions from parents on the Singapore University of Social Sciences.

A: It is admirable that young people such as your daughter aspire to work to bring about positive changes in people's lives.

I am not sure what you mean by "average grades", but first, I want to make the point that admission to universities is not based on academic grades alone.

All the local universities, including SUSS, use a more holistic admission process where they look beyond academic grades. This is especially so for courses such as social work, early childhood education and nursing where the universities also look for interest and aptitude in the field.

For entry into SUSS, the minimum requirement is two A-level passes for the part-time programme. The selection is a bit more stringent for the full-time programme, and better grades are required.

SUSS uses a four-stage selection process for its full-time programmes, which comprises a 30-minute essay, a 12-minute cognitive test, a group discussion and an individual or cluster interview.

The interviews are used to gauge applicants' interest in social work. Here, your daughter's involvement in voluntary work will put her in good stead.

SUSS' four-year Bachelor of Social Work is a direct honours programme designed to develop a student's knowledge and skills as positive change agents in society. It also prepares students for indirect social work in the areas of social policy, planning and evaluation.

SUSS has done away with the usual lecture-tutorials way of teaching and, instead, uses blended learning, which means all the materials are available online before the start of the course.

Students usually go through the PowerPoint slides, the study guide and the chunked lecture recordings before class. The classes, usually with about 40 students, are meant for students to clarify what they could not understand from the materials.

The lecture will also use case studies and other means to illustrate how theories are applied in practice.

Most SUSS lecturers are practitioners in the field or practitioners-turned-academics. There are usually robust discussions in class.

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askST: With average grades, can my daughter make it to university to study social work? - The Straits Times